UK: New penalties for cannabis users announced

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Ernestrome

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/oct/13/drugspolicy-drugsandalcohol


New penalties for cannabis users announced
Those caught with marijuana for a second time will be fined £80 and after three strikes will be arrested when drug returns to class B

* Hélène Mulholland and agencies
* guardian.co.uk,
* Monday October 13 2008 16.01 BST
* Article history

A man skins up a cannabis joint in Wuerzburg, Germany. UPPA/Photoshot dope B284_099874_0037 B284_099874 099874 B284 30.11.2006 B284 dciptcgen_22376_177

A man makes a cannabis joint in Wuerzburg, Germany. Photograph: Daniel Karmann

Cannabis users face new penalties when the drug is upgraded to class B from January next year, the home secretary said today.

Jacqui Smith said that those caught with cannabis for a second time would be fined £80 and after three strikes would be arrested.

The drug was downgraded to class C in 2004, but fears over the increased use of stronger "skunk" strains among young people prompted a policy review and U-turn.

Smith said she was "extremely concerned" about skunk, and its impact on mental health, especially if young people started to use it at an early age or "binge smoke".

Skunk contains higher levels of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.

"While cannabis has always been illegal, reclassifying it to a class B drug reinforces our message to everyone that it is harmful and should not be taken," she said.

"Fewer people are taking cannabis, but it is crucial that this trend continues. I am extremely concerned about the use of stronger strains of cannabis, such as skunk, and the harm they can cause to mental health.

Smith announced last May that she would go against the recommendations of the government's scientific experts, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which was asked by the home secretary to take its third look at cannabis classification in recent years.

The council's advice was that cannabis should remain class C.

Under current rules, anyone caught twice with cannabis can still walk away with a warning.

Smith said she had accepted police chiefs' calls for escalating penalties for possession in England and Wales.

Smith said: "This is the next step towards toughening up our enforcement response - to ensure that repeat offenders know that we are serious about tackling the danger that the drug poses to individuals and, in turn, communities.

"We need to act now to protect future generations."

Prosecutions and jail sentences for using and supplying cannabis plummeted after the then-home secretary David Blunkett downgraded cannabis in January 2004.

But police began to report that drugs seizures were much more likely to involve skunk than resin or lower strength marijuana.

Humberside chief constable Tim Hollis, who speaks on drugs for the Association of Chief Police Officers, promised a "harder line" on drug users.

"Where cannabis use is repeated or where there are aggravating circumstances locally, officers will take a harder line on enforcement and escalate their response accordingly.

"Every encounter at street level provides intelligence and helps us to act against the criminal gangs who seek to profit from cannabis production and distribution."

Danny Kushlick from the Transform Drug Policy Foundation condemned the move, accusing ministers of "populist posturing".

He said: "Escalating penalties for possession only serve to further marginalise and criminalise millions of otherwise law-abiding people.

"Criminalisation of cannabis possession is discriminatory and disproportionate when compared with tobacco and alcohol possession and counterproductive in so far as it gifts the market to organised criminals and drives the trade underground."

The process for changing the classification of the drug requires votes in both Houses of Parliament. If both votes pass, the new rules will come into force on January 26.
 
so police actually want to bust people for personal use?!

this government confuses me.
 
They want money too.
I'm more concerned about whatever it is that they're putting on weed these days than the "high amounts of THC".
Again, re-reclassification does fuck all... :|

Danny Kushlick from the Transform Drug Policy Foundation condemned the move, accusing ministers of "populist posturing".

He said: "Escalating penalties for possession only serve to further marginalise and criminalise millions of otherwise law-abiding people.

"Criminalisation of cannabis possession is discriminatory and disproportionate when compared with tobacco and alcohol possession and counterproductive in so far as it gifts the market to organised criminals and drives the trade underground."
Click to expand...

This bloke knows the score
 
Amazing...not one death reported from marijuana and it is villianized as this big threat to public health. If anything, it's better if used for stress relief, meditiation, etc. WHEN THE HELL IS ANYONE EVER GOING TO GET IT?
 
British Home Secretary Announces New Marijuana Possession Penalties

British Home Secretary Announces New Marijuana Possession Penalties

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/556/britain_marijuana_possession_penalties_Class_B

from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #556, 10/17/08

When marijuana is rescheduled from a Class C to a more serious Class B drug in Britain on January 26, repeat marijuana possession offenders will face more severe sanctions, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced Monday.

Marijuana had been down-scheduled to Class C in 2004, but the Labor government ignored the advice of its drug policy panel, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, and moved to reschedule it earlier this year. The move came against a background of sensational British tabloid press reports on marijuana-induced madness and more down-to-earth concerns about links between teen marijuana use and a slightly increased incidence of schizophrenia, especially with "skunk," the apparent British name for any high-quality marijuana.

Although teen marijuana use has decreased since 2004, the British are in the throes of a full-blown reefer madness. Reports of "cannabis factories" being raided and hooligans blaming pot for their crimes are staples in the press.

According to Home Secretary Smith, first-time pot possessors will continue to receive warnings, as is the practice with marijuana under Class B, but second-time offenders will be hit with a $138 fine and third-time offenders will be arrested. It's for your own good, she said.

"While cannabis has always been illegal, reclassifying it to a Class B drug reinforces our message to everyone that it is harmful and should not be taken. Fewer people are taking cannabis, but it is crucial that this trend continues. I am extremely concerned about the use of stronger strains of cannabis, such as skunk, and the harm they can cause to mental health," she said.

"This is the next step towards toughening up our enforcement response -- to ensure that repeat offenders know that we are serious about tackling the danger that the drug poses to individuals, and in turn communities," Smith continued. "We need to act now to protect future generations."

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) had supported the reclassification and welcomed the new penalties. "There is evidence of increasing harms to community safety associated with criminal behavior around the cultivation, distribution and the use of cannabis," said Tim Hollis, the ACPO Lead on Drugs. "While enforcement alone will not provide the total solution to a crime that is a global problem, this will act as a deterrent, along with better education about the impact of drugs. Where cannabis use is repeated or where there are aggravating circumstances locally, officers will take a harder line on enforcement and escalate their response accordingly. Every encounter at street level provides intelligence and helps us to act against the criminal gangs who seek to profit from cannabis production and distribution."

But while the new penalties sound tough enough, there is a loophole, the London Times reported. According to the Times, warnings for a first possession offense will not be recorded on the national police computer, making it difficult for police to verify if someone was a first- or second-time offender, particularly if the person was caught by different police forces.

Even with the apparent loophole, the move won no kudos from Danny Kushlick of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation. He told the Times the rescheduling of marijuana was little more than "populist posturing," adding, "Escalating penalties for possession only serve to further marginalize and criminalize millions of otherwise law-abiding people."

Home Secretary Smith has admitted smoking pot herself as a university student. She did not say whether she should have been warned, fined, or arrested, nor did she say whether she would have benefitted from being busted for her offense.

 
While Cannabis has ALWAYS been illegal...
Click to expand...

What?
Only for the last 100 years or so.
That's not ALWAYS.
It's a far cry from ALWAYS.
For your entire lifetime, MAYBE, but certainly not ALWAYS.

And the consequences of its quasi-prohibition have been commonplace - so you are blind to them. They're just a "Cost" of living in society.

Just because you're accustomed to a wrong doesn't mean that wrong HAS to continue.
 
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